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E36 (1991 - 1999) The E36 chassis 3-Series BMW was a huge hit among driving enthusiasts from the first moment the car hit the pavement. The E36 won numerous awards over the years it was produced and is still a favorite of many BMW enthusiasts to this day! -- View the E36 Wiki

Help Please!!! .....my 98' E36 318Ti recently got stuck in 3rd gear (manual) & was told by my local mechanic it required a replacement gearbox. After being quoted around £400 odd to have it replaced, a mechanic friend suggested that we could do it ourselves.

After through research & being told that the manual gearbox was common across all the engine sizes & models in the E36 range, I plumbed for a low mileage box from a 96' 325, from a car breaker. Upon fitting we have discovered that the selector is shorter on the replacement gearbox, than the one taken off the broken gearbox & that the old one won't fit either.... The gear shift keeps hitting the top of the centre console or doesn't go into gear at all!!!!!

Can someone please enlighten me as to whether the transmission tunnel or gearbox on the Compact is different from the other E36's in the range or whether there is a difference from the 96' to 98' models?????

It isn't correct to say that the manual transmissions are exactly the same across the entire line, because they don't in all cases. With that said, the 318 and 325 do use the same transmission, so you should be fine on that level. You should be able to swap your old linkage onto the donor transmission. There are no differences in the trans tunnel or anything along those lines either.